Fender cleat

ABSTRACT

A cleat for securing a line to a surface, particularly for securing a fender cleat to a boat hull which avoids the necessity of removing fenders prior to leaving port and which provides for quick removal of fenders with a minimum of effort. The cleat includes a body and a pair of arms extending radially outwardly from said body in opposite directions to define, in use, a linereceiving recess at each side of said body. These arms each have a projection to define in use a restricted opening to the recess, the opening being spaced radially outwardly from the recess.

United States Patent [1 1 Hutchings 1 FENDER CLEAT [76] Inventor: RalphHutehings, Port Carling,

Ontario, Canada 22 Filed: Aug. 16, 1973 [21 Appl.No.:388,79l

[451 Aug. 5, 1975 Primary E.\'uminerTrygve M. Blix AssisranrExaminer(]regory Ww OConnor [57] ABSTRACT A cleat for securing a line toa surface, particularly for securing a fender cleat to a boat hull whichavoids the necessity of removing fenders prior to leaving port and whichprovides for quick removal of fenders with a minimum of effort, Thecleat includes a body and a pair of arms extending radially outwardlyfrom said body in opposite directions to define. in use. a linereceivingrecess at each side of said body. These arms each have a projection todefine in use a restricted opening to the recess, the opening beingspaced radially outwardly from the recess.

6 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures FENDER CLEAT FIELD OF THE INVENTION Thepresent invention relates to a cleat for securing a line to a boat hullor the like.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART In the past, for example, in US. Pat. No.3,291,094 which issued Dec. 13, 1966 in the name of Patrick W. Beebe, aboat cleat is disclosed for retaining a replaceable fender adjacent thehull of a boat. A plurality of cleats may be provided, each of thecleats retaining a fender. The fenders are hung from the cleats by aline. The line includes a loop which is engaged in recesses at each sideof the cleat body. The weight of the fender causes the loop to remainengaged in the recesses. Thus, damage due to contact with docks or otherboats by the contacting of the boat hull therewith, is prevented.

Unfortunately, with this type of cleat, the fenders are often lost atsea if they are not removed prior to leaving port. If the fenders areleft hanging outside the vessel when it is in motion, the action of thewaves in unweighting the fender may be transmitted through the line,thus causing the loop to become disengaged from the cleat. It ispossible to prevent losing the fenders by securing the line to the cleatby a knot or the like. However, this makes it difficult to remove thefenders quickly.

These disadvantages are overcome by providing a cleat which avoids thenecessity of removing the fenders prior to leaving port and whichprovides for quick removal of the fenders with a minimum of effort.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION More specifically, the present inventionprovides a novel cleat for securing a line to a surface, comprising abody and a pair of arms extending radially outwardly from said body inopposite directions to define, in use, a line-receiving recess at eachside of said body each arm further comprising a projection to define inuse a restricted opening to the recess, said opening being spacedradially outwardly from said recess.

In a preferred embodiment, the cleat is fabricated with an integralmounting plate for mounting the cleat on a surface. In this arrangement,the line receiving recess is defined between the arms and the mountingplate at each side of the cleat body. Each arm includes a projectionextending toward the mounting plate to define the restricted opening,therebetween.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Referring to the drawings which serveto illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a cleat according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is an end view of the cleat; and

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the cleat.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, inwhich like reference numerals designate like parts, a cleat l isprovided for securing a line 3 to a surface 5. The surface 5 isconveniently a boat hull. The cleat 1 comprises a body 7, having a pairof arms 9 extending radially outwardly from said body in oppositedirections. A mounting plate 11 which extends below and beyond the endsof the arms 9 is provided for mounting the cleat on the surface 5. Thecleat is conveniently mounted to a surface 5 by 3 screws 6 which arecountersunk in the cleat.

A line receiving recess 13 is defined at each side of the body 7,between the arms 9 and the plate I]. Each arm 9 includes a projection 15to define a restricted opening 17 to the recess 13 between the arms 9and the plate 11. The restricted opening I7 is smaller than the diameterof the line 3. As seen in FIG. I, the cleat bends slightly to permit theline to pass into the recess IS. The line will also give slightly. Therestricted opening 17 is spaced radially outwardly from the body 7. Itwill be appreciated that the projection [5 may alternatively be providedin the plate 11.

A guide surface 19 is provided radially outwardly of the restrictedopening l7 to facilitate entry of the line 3 into the restricted opening17. The guide surface may be provided by cutting away a portion of thefree ends of the arms 9 to provide a region of larger diameter than thatof the restricted opening 17, radially outwardly thereof.

The cleat is conveniently constructed e.g., by moulding in a suitableresilient material, so that the arms may bend slightly to permit theline to enter the recess and to prevent unslightly corrosion of thecleat. Suitable thermoplastic materials are preferred.

It will be appreciated that in operation, a looped line is guided alongguide surfaces to restricted openings defined by the cleat arms and themounting plate. The restricted openings are smaller than the diameter ofthe line. Consequently, the line must be forced through the restrictedopening. The resilient arms are forced away from the mounting plate topermit the line to pass into the recesses wherein the loop of the lineis engaged at each side of the cleat body.

The line will remain thus engaged unless sufficient force is applied tothe line to force it outwardly through the restricted openings. Such aforce is not encountered in unweighting of the line by the action ofwaves during motion of the vessel.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A cleat for retaining a replaceable fender adjacent the hull of aboat, whereby the fender may be left hanging outside the vessel withoutfear of loss, said cleat comprising a unitary integral body having abase of elongate form and a central upstanding part from which a pair ofarms extend radially outwards in opposite directions overlying oppositeends of the base, said arms being separated therefrom by a distancegreater than the diameter of a line and defining therewith aline-receiving recess on each side of the central part of the body, eacharm having ends remote from said upstanding part defining with said basea restricted opening to said recess, said cleat being fabricated in aresilient material whereby each said arm can be resiliently displacedaway from said base to permit passage of a line into said recess.

2. A cleat according to claim 1 wherein each restricted opening isdefined on one side by a projection on the arm extending towards thebase.

3. A cleat according to claim 2 wherein each arm further comprises aguide surface radially outwardly of said projection to facilitate entryof said line into said restricted opening.

4. A cleat according to claim 3 wherein the base has end portionsextending radially beyond the free ends of tapers from the central partof the body towards its free end and is convexly curved so that its freeend converges towards the corresponding end of the base.

1. A cleat for retaining a replaceable fender adjacent the hull of aboat, whereby the fender may be left hanging outside the vessel withoutfear of loss, said cleat comprising a unitary integral body having abase of elongate form and a central upstanding part from which a pair ofarms extend radially outwards in opposite directions overlying oppositeends of the base, said arms being separated therefrom by a distancegreater than the diameter of a line and defining therewith alinereceiving recess on each side of the central part of the body, eacharm having ends remote from said upstanding part defining with said basea restricted opening to said recess, said cleat being fabricated in aresilient material whereby each said arm can be resiliently displacedaway from said base to permit passage of a line into said recess.
 2. Acleat according to claim 1 wherein each restricted opening is defined onone side by a projection on the arm extending towards the base.
 3. Acleat according to claim 2 wherein each arm further comprises a guidesurface radially outwardly of said projection to facilitate entry ofsaid line into said restricted opening.
 4. A cleat according to claim 3wherein the base has end portions extending radially beyond the freeends of the arms, said end portions having apertures to receivefasteners for securing the plate to the surface.
 5. A cleat according toclaim 1 wherein said cleat is moulded in a suitable thermoplasticmaterial.
 6. A cleat according to claim 5 wherein each said arm tapersfrom the central part of the body towards its free end and is convexlycurved so that its free end converges towards the corresponding end ofthe base.